Climate Horizons 3 (Al Gore, Climate Corps, Amazon rainforest...)
News, Views and Solutions in an All-of-the-Above World.
Greetings!
There is so much happening so quickly related to our climate crisis. We’ve selected a range of worthwhile news and information for you, and we’d like to start this week with a highly engaging and impassioned message from Al Gore: What the fossil fuel industry doesn't want you to know
There’s a good reason this TED Talk got more than a million views in the last two months. It’s good! We encourage you to invest 25 minutes to watch it if you can. It’s important and packed with good information and insights, and…despite the obstacles Gore outlines…it ends with a message of hope.
DESCRIPTION:
“In a blistering talk, Nobel Laureate Al Gore looks at the two main obstacles to climate solutions and gives his view of how we might actually solve the environmental crisis in time. You won't want to miss his searing indictment of fossil fuel companies for walking back their climate commitments -- and his call for a global rethink of the roles of polluting industries in politics and finance.”
EXCERPT:
So young people are demanding that we do the right thing. Do not be vulnerable to despair. We are going to do this. And if you doubt that we, as human beings have the will to act, please always remember that the will to act is itself a renewable resource.
• CURRENT NEWS:
A number of current news items, usually in the form of a headline and link, along with a short description when helpful.
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Last week, President Biden announced “a new initiative to train young people in high-demand skills for jobs in the clean energy economy. The American Climate Corps will put a new generation of Americans to work conserving our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, advancing environmental justice, deploying clean energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, and tackling climate change. American Climate Corps members will gain the skills necessary to access good-paying jobs that are aligned with high-quality employment opportunities after they complete their paid training or service program.”
Read the WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET.
Here are a few additional links to pieces about the Climate Corps:
NPR
Biden is unveiling the American Climate Corps, a program with echoes of the New Deal
CNN (opinion)
Biden’s American Climate Corps could be the lasting legacy of this generation
Washington Post
Biden’s new Climate Corps will train thousands of young people
GRIST
Want to join the American Climate Corps? Here’s what we know so far
(search American Climate Corps to find much more coverage)
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Inside Climate News -
(Pulitzer Prize-winning, nonpartisan reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet)
The Era of Climate Migration Is Here, Leaders of Vulnerable Nations Say
Heads of climate-vulnerable nations gathered on the sidelines of a United Nations climate summit to call for new policies and agreements to manage the millions of people who are being forced from their homes by extreme weather.
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The Climate Brink
Visualizing a summer of extremes in 7 charts
The past four months of 2023 have shattered all prior records by a truly staggering margin. Here we explore seven different figures that highlight just how extreme global temperatures have been this (northern hemisphere) summer.
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The Guardian
‘Climate villain’: scientists say Rupert Murdoch wielded his media empire to sow confusion and doubt
The tycoon, who is stepping down from News Corp and Fox, has used his outlets to promote denial and delay action, experts say.
Scientists have described the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch as a “climate villain” who has used his television and newspaper empire to promote climate science denial and delay action.
Murdoch’s outlets, including Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and The Australian, have long been known to promote doubts about the cause and consequences of the climate crisis. Scientists said this had caused lasting damage.
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SUBTITLE: Over more than 46 hours of combined broadcast and cable news coverage of the storm, climate change was mentioned only 12 times
• Less than 2% of the 780 segments and weathercasts about Hurricane Idalia across national TV news mentioned climate change.
• Major cable news networks — CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC — aired 44 hours and 4 minutes of coverage across 691 segments or weathercasts about the hurricane, but only 10 mentioned climate change. MSNBC mentioned the connection between Idalia and climate change 5 times, CNN mentioned it 4 times and Fox News mentioned climate change once.
• Corporate broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — aired a combined 89 segments or weathercasts that discussed Hurricane Idalia over 2 hours and 32 minutes, but only 2 of those segments mentioned climate change.
• GOOD NEWS and SOLUTIONS:
A number of items, with links to sources and additional information, that highlight either real and notable progress being made somewhere or information about a few of the many solutions that are out there and available today.
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NPR
A new climate change report offers something unique: hope
EXCERPT:
Here's something you don't hear much when it comes to climate change: hope.
Countries are setting records in deploying climate-friendly technologies, such as solar power and electric vehicles, according to a new International Energy Agency report. The agency, which represents countries that make up more than 80% of global energy consumption, projects demand for coal, oil and natural gas will peak before 2030.
AND: "It's an extraordinary moment in history: we now have all the tools needed to free ourselves from planet-heating fossil fuels, but there's still no decision to do it," said Kaisa Kosonen with Greenpeace International in a statement.
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GRIST
Minnesota judge throws out charges against Line 3 pipeline protesters
Citing a rarely used statute, the court dismissed Line 3 protest charges in the name of climate justice.
Judge Leslie Metzen relied on a rarely-used Minnesota statute that allows a judge to dismiss a case if doing so furthers “justice.” She assessed that in this case justice meant throwing out charges against Anishinaabe people committed to preserving their treaty lands. “The court finds that it is within the furtherance of justice to protect the defendants peacefully protesting to protect the land and water,” she wrote.
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Mongabay
(U.S.-based non-profit conservation and environmental science news platform)
Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest continues to plunge
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon continues to decline, according to data released today by Brazil’s national space research institute, INPE.
INPE’s deforestation alert system indicates that forest clearing in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon in August declined 66% compared to the same month last year.
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has seen a decrease for five consecutive months. This follows President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s commitment to curb the escalating forest loss in the region.
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BBC
Climate change: Six young people take 32 countries to court
The case is the first of its kind to be filed at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. If it is successful, it could have legally-binding consequences for the governments involved. The first hearing in the case is due later on Wednesday.
• THINGS YOU CAN DO:
For this section, this week we have selected a few different and relatively short pieces that offer suggestions about what individuals can do to help fight climate change. As you would expect, there is significant overlap, with certain suggestions coming up in most or all… for a good reason.
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Two years ago, CNBC published his piece from Catherine Clifford.
How you can help fight climate change in ways that really matter
Can a single person do anything to meaningfully contribute to climate change relief efforts? Most certainly, say climate change experts. Here are a few simple things you can do right now…
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This was authored by Max Callaghan and published last year in The Conversation:
Here are the most effective things you can do to fight climate change
To help speed this process as individuals, we’ve got to do everything we can to cut down our use of fossil fuels. But many people aren’t aware of the most effective ways to do this.
Read the article
It was also published here (at PHYS ORG)
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A couple of years ago, Bill Gates shared this excerpt from his book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster on his GatesNotes blog:
What you can do to fight climate change
SUBTITLE: This excerpt from my book includes several ideas for how you can help move us closer to a zero-carbon future.
When I talk to people about climate change, I almost always get asked the same question: What can I do to help? So, when I sat down to write my new book, I knew I wanted to include a chapter about what actions individuals can take to move us closer to a zero-carbon future.
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In August, The Guardian published this piece:
What can you do to fight the climate crisis?
SUBTITLE: Individual acts alone won’t stop the climate crisis, but there are things we can do. We asked experts what they do in their daily lives to make a difference.
Panelists
Katharine Hayhoe, atmospheric scientist and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University
Adrienne Hollis, senior climate justice and health scientist, the Union of Concerned Scientists
Sonia Aggarwal, vice-president, Energy Innovation
Michael Mann, professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center, Pennsylvania State University
Catherine Flowers, founder, the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice
Klaus Jacob, special research scientist, Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
• INTERNET RESOURCES & SOCIAL MEDIA CONNECTIONS:
There are a lot of great resources on the web and social media — people, groups and pages. In each newsletter, we suggest a couple — or a few — you might want to check out (a website, a Facebook page, an account on Threads or Instagram or any number of other sites).
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This site offers consistently high quality, intelligent and well-written information:
Yale Climate Connections
“We conduct scientific research on public climate change knowledge, attitudes, policy preferences, and behavior, and the underlying psychological, cultural, and political factors that influence them. We also engage the public in climate change science and solutions, in partnership with governments, media organizations, companies, and civil society, and with a daily, national radio program, Yale Climate Connections.”
ON THE WEB: https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/
ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/YaleProgramOnClimateChangeCommunication
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Michael E. Mann
Michael E Mann is one of the world’s most respected and influential climate scientists. In 1999, he was co-author of the famous “hockey-stick graph”, which illustrated the rise in global temperatures since the beginning of the industrial age, clearly demonstrating the link between human emissions and global warming. In his book, The New Climate War, he argues that we may finally be turning in the right direction on climate change.
EXCERPT FROM MICHAEL’S ABOUT PAGE: Dr. Michael E. Mann is Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication. He is director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media (PCSSM).
WEBSITE: https://michaelmann.net/
ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelMannScientist/
ON THREADS: https://www.threads.net/@michaelmannscientist
ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNMT6Zm92Gl3784qOGOtGlA
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